Igenix 30L Stainless Steel Catering Urn

[Gazguzzler]

Evening All

After what has been a torrid weekend with both my kettle elements being extremely temperamental, by continually cutting out at around 170f, the time has come to invest in something a little more substantial for the boil. I came across the Igenix 30L Stainless Steel Catering Urn available from Robert Dyas for £84.99 and wondered whether anybody has experience of using one of these.

Thanks

 

[matt76]

I've got one, though it's now been consigned to the loft since I bought a Klarstein Maischfest....

I happened to spot the Igenix in the window of Oxfam and snapped it up for £25.

I used to use or for heating mash/sparge water, sooo much easier than the 2 x 1.7L kitchen kettles I used to use!

But unfortunately mine at least will not maintain a rolling boil so it's useless for boiling - unfortunately the thermostat kicks in around 99-100degC.

You might get lucky and get one that's wired differently, or maybe you're skilled enough to rewire it without electrocuting yourself.

Personally I would say you're better off to save up and put the money towards a proper low-cost all in one system such as Klarstein, One Concept etc. I kept a close eye on eBay and waited until they were on offer and got mine for £135.

 

[Gazguzzler]

Many thanks for the heads-up Matt. not much of a boiler if it doesn't actually boil!

Guess I'll take a look at the Klarsteins and evaluate.

Cheers

 

[samale]

Many thanks for the heads-up Matt. not much of a boiler if it doesn't actually boil!

Guess I'll take a look at the Klarsteins and evaluate.

Cheers

I use a burco boiler. I think I paid 90 pounds for it around 4 years ago. I do biab, it holds a good boil without having to tamper with the stat

 

[Gazguzzler]

Cheers Samale

Burco's seem that much more expensive than others I've looked at (biggest name in the business but are you just paying for that name...???) but then I guess if it does the job... Cygnet range seems to be reasonably priced compared to some but I've not really looked at its functionality compared to more pricey models.

 

[samale]

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Burco-Cygn...uPWNsaWNrUmVkaXJlY3QmZG9Ob3RMb2dDbGljaz10cnVl

 

[bobukbrewer]

with any boiler it ie easy to strip out the thermostat and and wire mains live to one side of the heater and mains neutral to the other side. This achieves a far too vigorous boil and so I installed an electronic voltage reducer in the garage. This plugs into the normal mains socket so it is both safe, legal, and very controllable

 

[Gazguzzler]

with any boiler it ie easy to strip out the thermostat and and wire mains live to one side of the heater and mains neutral to the other side. This achieves a far too vigorous boil and so I installed an electronic voltage reducer in the garage. This plugs into the normal mains socket so it is both safe, legal, and very controllable

Cheers Bob

My lad is a bit handy with a screwdriver so I may get him to have a butchers.

 

[bobukbrewer]

I also use it to control the mash - with it on a very low setting it can exactly balance the natural heat losses - brings up a good point - how do we know our thermometers are accurate......

 

[Gazguzzler]

I also use it to control the mash - with it on a very low setting it can exactly balance the natural heat losses - brings up a good point - how do we know our thermometers are accurate......

Very true, Bob.

I have 3 digital thermometers at home and they all show slightly different values within a 5 degree range. Ok that's probably not enough to spoil a mash but bloody irritating nonetheless!

 

[bobukbrewer]

I did check mine in bottled water ice and boiling bottled water within 0.3 deg C so I assume mine is accurate - many years ago my old electronic thermometer was compared to a calibrated thermometer in a laboratory and it was 1 degree C high....

 

[Andrew Taylor]

I've just checked my bulldog sparger, the dial claims to go up to 110 deg C although I haven't tried it at that temp setting, so ought to be able to maintain a rolling boil without clicking off and on around the 100 deg C mark

 

[Gazguzzler]

Well, I've had a rake around down the back of the sofa and have plumped for this:

https://www.klarstein.co.uk/Home-ap...0L-LED-Display-Timer-304-Stainless-Steel.html
Not the full blown all-in-one but a step up from just a general boiler (I hope...) Got my £10 off for simply signing up to their newsletter so £139.99. Even so, a bit more than I was planning to pay but hopefully worth it in the long run.

 

[matt76]

Good choice - I know @Rodcx500z has that model and is very pleased with it:

https://www.thehomebrewforum.co.uk/threads/klarstein-fullhorn.88714/

 

[Gazguzzler]

Good choice - I know @Rodcx500z has that model and is very pleased with it:

https://www.thehomebrewforum.co.uk/threads/klarstein-fullhorn.88714/

Reading this thread it seems I just may have got it right. Don't think it will be delivered before the weekend so I'll just haver to try and be patient

 

[bobukbrewer]

I checked the price of new 30 litre burcos - amazed they are £250.........

 

[Cestrian]

Reading this thread it seems I just may have got it right. Don't think it will be delivered before the weekend so I'll just haver to try and be patient

Looks nice! I like the digital temperature display.

how many KW is the element? Does it give a rolling boil or is it just for mashing?

 

[Gazguzzler]

Looks nice! I like the digital temperature display.

how many KW is the element? Does it give a rolling boil or is it just for mashing?

Only just got it yesterday - Seems there was a delay at the warehouse in Germany but all good now and ready for the weekend!

It can be used as a mash tun and a boiler. It has two elements, one rated @ 1600w and a second at 900w so a combined 2500w. They can be used independently or together giving better control (I hope) over the temps required i.e use the full 2500 to bring the wort up to boiling then throttle back to just one of them to keep it rolling. Don't know which yet as I have yet to try it, Will report back next week.

 

[AMyd666]

What about this? Figure out how to get a hose on the tap though. Digital display when adjusting temperature.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/MYLEK-Cate...ywords=boiler+30+litre&qid=1596131098&sr=8-16
Glitch made me not see the above few posts

 

[BlackRegent]

Only just got it yesterday - Seems there was a delay at the warehouse in Germany but all good now and ready for the weekend!

It can be used as a mash tun and a boiler. It has two elements, one rated @ 1600w and a second at 900w so a combined 2500w. They can be used independently or together giving better control (I hope) over the temps required i.e use the full 2500 to bring the wort up to boiling then throttle back to just one of them to keep it rolling. Don't know which yet as I have yet to try it, Will report back next week.

I was reading through this thread thinking he should get a Klarstein Fullhorn so I'm glad to see on scrolling down further that you did.

I've had one a little while and I think it's a great unit. When I first got it out of the box, I thought the build quality was a bit lacking, but I think I was expecting too much and on using it I've come to realise that it does all you need it to.

You've probably worked this out already, but you can do full BIAB brews very successfully with this unit. You need the custom grain bag that Klarstein sells (which is about £20 IIRC) but it's well worth it.

I mash in the bag and then run off the wort into a bucket and batch sparge the grains in the bag in situ. I repeat the process two or three times until I have my desired boil volume. I then remove the bag full of grist and tip the wort back into the Fullhorn for the boil. By doing this you get pretty good efficiency and I've hit my numbers on every brew, bar a high gravity old ale.

Two things to watch based on my experience:

- The inbuilt digital thermometer isn't always accurate so I would always check with a digital probe if you have one. I tend to find the temp at the top during a mash is less than at the bottom and the temp sensor in the Fullhorn is located at the bottom of the vessel. Doing a quick vorlauf with a jug usually evens things up.

- When boiling it's really important to switch off the 900w element just as it's approaching the hot break. If you leave both elements on you will almost certainly get a boil over if the unit is reasonably full.